On the course he knows better than any other, Luke Donald believes this will
be the week which will turn around his “disappointing” season.

Donald, who was world No 1 just 14 months ago, is down in 54th in the FedEx Cup rankings, with only the top 30 going ahead to the finale at the Tour Championship next week.

To have a realistic chance of scooping the $10 million (£6.3 million) jackpot, Donald will likely need a top-three finish here at the BMW Championship. He is putting his faith in the familiar environs of Conway Farms.

“If there was ever a year in which I was struggling when I had to come into an event needing a big week then this is it,” he said. “I’ve been a member here for the last 12 years and obviously know the place very well.”

Indeed, Donald was influential in bringing the PGA Tour here. Having lived in the Windy City since enrolling in Northwestern University in 1997, he was a natural to ask about possible venues in Chicago.

“Selfishly, I tried to steer them towards here,” he said with a grin. “I suppose I am looking forward to being the semi host.”

There is little wonder in that, seeing as Donald shot a course-record 61 at Conway Farms three years ago. What he would give to replicate that number this week. The 35-year-old has yet to win in 2013 and has fallen out of the world’s top 10.

“For someone who was at the pinnacle of the game not too long ago and is now outside the top 50 in the FedExCup, it’s been a very hard year. I’ve had to make some tough decisions in terms of changing swing coach.”

As revealed in Telegraph Sport two weeks ago, Donald appointed Chuck Cook after being with Pat Goss, his college coach, for more than 15 years.

“Outside of telling my brother [Christian] I didn’t want him to caddie for me any more, it was probably the toughest decision I’ve had to make,” he said. “I got to No 1 with Pat and would never take anything away from what we did. But as a player you know what you feel inside, and I want to just feel more in control of my ball.”

Donald acknowledges the alterations are radical. He is trying to take the “flip out of it” and “use my bigger muscles more”. In short, that means less wrist and more turn. He has only been with Cook – who is also the coach of the US PGA champion Jason Dufner – for a month, but is confident he will not have to wait too long to reap the rewards.

“It is different to what I did before and it will take time,” he said. “But I’m a fast learner and I still think that I can rescue the year. And he best thing about the FedEx Cup is that you can rescue it in one event – I have a great opportunity to do that here.”